So, my daughter is on spring break now, and though it will be a bit chilly at night I am planning a camping trip for an undetermined amount of days this coming week. Need to buy a new big cooler and warmer sleeping bags, but curious what you all would suggest to take for food? Any campfire cooking tips or supplies that would come in handy for a low carber or even just a single mom camper? What does one do about coffee?! TIA for any advice, really looking forward to getting back into the outdoors with my daughter since my husband left recently and it's just us two. I think it will be good for us, and where we are going in KY is beautiful and there are lots of hiking opportunities.

Coffee, I'd assume you could go with instant just for the time being if you can stand it I know some people don't like instant at ALL, but it's better than no coffee at all probably. If you can get a fire going or have some other source of hot water you might be able to try that

As far as LC camping friendly items... that's a tough one! If you're not sensitive to nuts, you could always make your own trail mix blend? That way none of that sugary dried fruit or candy sneaks in If you'll have the cooler the whole time I'd assume you'd be able to keep some lunch meat if you enjoy that. Potted meats are an okay choice if you're in a pinch, but they're pretty high in sodium I know. They're pretty camping friendly though! Beef jerky, same thing... good camping convenience food, high in sodium. Cheeses and HWC would probably stay good in a cooler as well so long as it stays cold... Babybel I know is supposed to stay good through most conditions I think! You could also bring your coconut oil along if you use that.

Oh yeah, if you do have HWC with you and you do have access to hot water you might want to take a look at Better Than Bouillon too. I like to mix a teaspoon in a cup of hot water and add some HWC to make a cream of soup. I've heard it's good with a little bit of shredded cabbage added too, if you eat that

With a fire, of course you open up a whole new world of possibilities if you have a cast iron pan or something similar!

We do tent camping a couple times each year (last year for a whole week, down at Kentucky Lake). We take a "cube" cooler and get ice from the camp store. We use a Coleman propane stove for our cooking. We take a grill for the fire, but usually don't bother... by the time we're camping, it's too hot to cook over a fire. We have a full set of cast iron, including a Dutch Oven with bail handle for firepit cooking, but we seldom use it anymore. It's just too unwieldy for a weekend. If we were camping a whole week, in a cooler time of year, we might. Some of the best chicken I ever had was baked on coals in a Dutch Oven.

Breakfast is almost always eggs. Sometimes with bacon or sausage. One time I made Scotch eggs ahead of time (hard-cooked eggs wrapped in sausage and baked) and reheated them, but they were kind of a pain to reheat. I also take a little container of cottage cheese, or cheddar, in case I'm in a hurry of a morning. That and my coffee will do me for the morning. One morning is traditionally pancakes. I have eggs as well, and limit myself to one small pancake, with peanut butter and SF syrup on it.

Coffee used to be instant. Then I tried "coffee bags" -- not much better. Finally last year I purchased a little percolator. It's not perfect, but it's better than instant by far! If I could find a 4-cup French Press that wasn't glass, I'd be a happy camper. I bring a small container of cream (one with a twist cap, so it doesn't leak into your cooler... *voice of experience*). I've also packed a container of coconut oil, but found I didn't use it as much.

Lunches are usually deli meats, cheeses, cut up veggies, and cheese spreads. I bring fruit for the rest of the family. Usually we're so busy we don't want to take much time for lunch, so it's nice to just grab and go. If it's cold and rainy, we'll make hot dogs or brats w/beans. I do eat some baked beans occasionally on LC, but not as much as I used to.

Dinner is usually hamburgers, hot dogs/bratwurst, or stew (made a few days ahead and kept in Tupperware in the cooler and then reheated on the camp stove). I've also done the make-ahead thing with chili. Usually if we have a stew-like meal, we eat it Friday night after setup (because we're too tired to make much of anything else, and all we have to do is reheat it). A couple of times we've done "meat and mud" -- hamburger and onion in gravy over noodles. I just don't eat the noodles. Or spaghetti and meatballs (made ahead) and I don't eat the spaghetti.

We also take stuff for s'mores, and Jiffy Pop popcorn for evenings around the fire. And bread and PB & J for my daughter. And cookies and chips for DD and DH. So long as I stay low-carb, I'm not tempted.

I do bring sugar-free hot cocoa mix for myself. And nuts and jerky to snack on. Sometimes I'll use the SF hot cocoa in my morning coffee (YUM!).

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What shall we do for this meal, Mr. Banting?
The same thing we do every meal... Try to take over the world!

I LOVE percolator campfire coffee. Impossible to keep all grounds out unfortunately, just don't drink the last 1/2 cup or so. Just tastes so earthy and good!

How do you plan to cook? Campstove? Open fire? BBQ? My absolute favorite is dutch oven cooking. Once you get used to working with coals the sky is the limit - pretty much anything you can cook on the stove or bake in the oven can be done in a dutch oven. If money is tight (like it is with me) you can sometimes find these at thrift stores, though any good sporting goods store will have them. Look for one with legs and a flat lid. You'll want a good pair of super strong oven mitts as these things get hot. I have a pair of welders gloves I use with mine. Hot coals on the top, hot coals on the bottom and you are in business!

As long as you have a pot to boil water in, get a Melitta Cone. They're around $5, and some #2 cone filters. Then put a filter in the cone, put the cone on a mug, put coffee grounds in the filter and pour boiling water over it, probably fill twice for a mug full. It's perfect for camping, unless you have a percolator coffee pot for a stove.

As long as you have a pot to boil water in, get a Melitta Cone. They're around $5, and some #2 cone filters. Then put a filter in the cone, put the cone on a mug, put coffee grounds in the filter and pour boiling water over it, probably fill twice for a mug full. It's perfect for camping, unless you have a percolator coffee pot for a stove.

Me too on Melitta. It doesn't take up much space, it is easy to clean, a cup brews quickly once water is boiled and, most importantly, it makes a great cup of coffee.

Get the Melitta brand filters, #4 size, and fold the paper along the seems per the box instructions. The other brand filter cone paper filters would always tear and made a mess for me. 2T of coffee grounds makes a good strong cup of coffee.

Do you have a little propane heater? I bring a French Press for coffee. Must have good coffee.

I bring cream in the cooler. It doesn't oxidize as fast as milk. I also bring string cheese and other snacks. Are you car camping? I leave all my food in the car at night so the animals don't get to it.

You can bring fresh whole veggies (not cut = will last better without refrigeration) and a pack of frozen meat. Meat will slowly thaw. You can make little campfire packets of meat with veggies and a pat of butter and salt/peper/spices that you wrap in aluminum foil and place in the hot coals.

When we camp we cook in a cast iron pan over the fire. Eggs and sausage for breakfast.
Burgers and dogs for dinner. The place we camp sells veggies, so I usually buy a zucchini and fry it up in the pan.

Thank you all for the ideas! We are leaving tomorrow morning, and after spending a small fortune I think we can look forward to many great camping trips this year! While looking through our camping supplies in storage, I did find some pots and a cast iron skillet. But I don't know how I would use them over the fire?
So far, I pre-cooked two pkgs of bacon in the oven that I put into a ziplock baggie.
Also, I packed up four portions of fajita chicken and green peppers w/butter in some foil. I am guessing I can just put these on the fire to reheat them?
Also bought some Nathan's hot dogs and some turkey sausage, and pre-packaged vegetables with ranch dip.
And have low carb yogurt to bring along, as well as fruit and vegetable cups for the kiddo. and several sticks of string cheese!
I hope I have enough food to bring, I am pulling my hair out trying to get everything packed! The hope is that we can arrive at our campground tomorrow and stay until Saturday. I have never attempted to camp this long, let alone with colder temps at night, but bought these new sweet mummy-style sleeping bags that are rated for below zero temps. I hope this can be a regular thing for my daughter and I in the future. This is kind of like a test-run I guess? lol
Hopefully can purchase firewood there. I am not good with cooking over fire. I know there will be fire pits at the campsites, but still not sure exactly how I will be cooking food besides the roasting forks. Should I have coals as well?
Thank you all

Do you have a metal rack you can take to put on the fire? We set up big rocks around the fire pit and put the rack across the rocks and over or in the fire, then put the tin foil wrapped food on the rack and you can make the rack lower or higher inside the fire depending on what you're cooking. I also just remembered that recently my group has been bringing pre-cooked chicken wings to heat up on the fire, they came out really nicely. It just takes a long time to cook on the fire